Critics Say School Board Selection Process Raises Concerns

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board swore in its new member, David Saussy, on Thursday.

Board members made their selection from a pool of 14 applicants (one dropped out from the original pool of 15) after Mia Burroughs left this board to join the Orange County Board of Commissioners. Mark Dorosin, an Orange County commissioner and civil rights lawyer, expressed disappointment with the way the board made its decision.

“This community purports to have a commitment to transparency and community engagement,” said Dorosin in an interview with WCHL. “And then to make a decision on something so significant without any conversation really is almost disrespectful to the public and certainly to the other candidates that were there in the audience.”

Dorosin wrote an op-ed in the Chapel Hill News criticizing the board’s decision-making process. The board voted in Saussy without publicly discussing which applicant would be the best fit for the job.

“We wouldn’t expect any elected board to make a fundamental policy decision in silence, without any conversation about what any individual member’s position was, why a member was supporting or not supporting one policy over another,” said Dorosin in the interview. “Why would we accept a vote like this in silence? It just doesn’t make any sense.”

Mike Kelley, the new board chair, defended the selection process. He said members discussed how they would make a decision, and he said the candidate interviews were done in public.

“The board members could have made comments if they wanted to. There was opportunity to have discussion. They and I chose not to,” said Kelley in an interview after the Thursday meeting. “If someone wants to know, they can always call and talk to me or the other board members. And they may or may not share that because sometimes it’s very difficult when you’re talking about individual people, especially when you’re going to be expressing opinions about why you’re not selecting someone or why you’re selecting someone . . .It can be difficult to make certain statements in public.”

Kelley also said that when board members selected a candidate in previous years, they chose not to comment on the candidates.

Dorosin endorsed candidate Jennifer Marsh.

“He may be the best person for the job, but we have no way of knowing that,” said Dorosin about Saussy. “No one made any case as to why this candidate should have been selected and more importantly why or how the person they chose is going to effectuate the board’s priorities.”

Critics Say School Board Selection Process Raises Concerns

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